Introduction: It is well known that the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increases with age. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of AF at the 1-year outcome of patients aged 80? who suffered from chronic heart failure (CHF).
Materials and methods: The study included 220 consecutive patients at age 80–92 (mean 82.8 years, 45.5 % men) hospitalized for heart failure. The prospective analysis contains demographic and clinical data, basic laboratory tests with hsTnT and NT-proBNP, 12-lead resting electrocardiogram, echocardiography and coronary angiography results and the number of deaths at the 1-year followup. Patients were analyzed depending on AF in the resting electrocardiogram at hospital entry.
Results: AF was recorded in 52 patients (24 %). The relationship with AF was found for more advanced NYHA class III and IV (p\0.001), higher concentrations of hsCRP (p = 0.0005), hsTnT (p = 0.007) and NT-proBNP (p = 0.0098), higher heart rate in the electrocardiogram (p = 0.000) and longer hospitalization (p = 0.025), older age (p = 0.003) and lower left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.006). Annual mortality was 13 % and was higher if AF occurred (17 %). However, there was no association between deaths and AF (p = 0.3297). From the multivariate stepwise analysis, independent risk factors for annual mortality were male gender (OR = 3.432; p = 0.043), left ventricular systolic dimension (OR = 1.871; p = 0.004) and dyslipidemia (OR = 0.252; p = 0.043).
Conclusions: In the oldest patients aged 80? who suffered from CHF, the incidence of atrial fibrillation and annual mortality was high. The independent variables, which enhanced the risk of death at the 1-year follow-up, were male sex and left ventricular systolic dimension, but not atrial fibrillation.